Hello ladies and gentlemen, Muldoon here with a fun chat with director Afonso Poyart. You might have seen the clip I was able to post a few days back, when the movie was released on iTunes and VOD. I mentioned there how crazy the movie is, a wildly energetic smack to the face with a cold wet glove almost. Whether you've had a chance to see the film or not, or perhaps you caught his more recent film (SOLACE), the guy knows how to shoot action. The man's got a creativity to him that feels fresh, so of course I jumped at the chance to pick his brain for a bit. Anyone out there who knows me at all (I know there's probably three of you out there at least, maybe four?) you know I'm a sucker for over the top visuals that push the envelope. Folks like Matthew Vaughn, Edgar Wright, The Wachowskis, and Timur Bekmambetov have helped paint the interior of my imagination (or at least have been incredible influences) and with 2 RABBITS - I can honestly say Afonso is right up there with those filmmakers. Hopefully you enjoy the interview below. I started off with some obvious questions and then just flowed into questions I really care about. So if you're curious about the film or filmmaking in general (which I assume you are if you're here), then hopefully you'll get a unique perspective from the man. Before we hop on in, I'd like to shoot a "thank you" to Poyart and for Katrina Wan for setting it up.
Hello!
Hi, Afonso. How are you doing today, sir?
I’m good. I’m good. How are you?
I’m pretty okay. I was able to watch 2 RABBITS yesterday. I found it incredibly energetic, and a fun time, so I’m excited to talk to you today about it. So let’s jump right on in with some of the more obvious initial questions. Where did the idea for the project first come from?
Well, you know at the time that I did it, I was working a lot in advertising with a lot of motion graphics and stuff like that, but I always wanted to more than just direct commercials. I wanted to shoot movies and at the point that I realized “I could be doing these commercials for the rest of my life” I felt “okay, it’s time.” I had this original idea that I had had for a long time. Basically the idea came from seeing all of the stories of corruption and crime in the news. It’s pretty prevalent here. So I wanted to do something where a guy decides to do something about it and taking justice into his own hands. That’s basically the first concept for the film and of course later you find his ideals are much more personal and he has a much more personal issue to resolve.
So how long did it take you to write the script? You mentioned you had the idea for quite a while, I’m just curious a little bit about your process for getting the script out of your imagination and onto the page.
Yeah, it took me like five or six months. I basically worked at night, so I organized myself that every day I would stop and write something and so I was writing while still handling my advertising duties at the same time. Each night I would just sit down and write. Some days were good days and some days were not so good, like I couldn’t get down on paper my ideas. The key was “always write.” I know a lot of writers do that, so my system was “just write.” It will be good stuff some times and some times not so great. That’s what I did.
I got a real Timur Bekmambetov/Edgar Wright/Guy Ritchie feel as I watched the movie. Stylistically, what were some directors whose work you might have referenced for this film? That’s not taking away from your own originality, obviously – I’m just curious as to who you’re a fan of and what directors inspire you.
Well, you know I had all sorts of reference. Specifically I looked at Christopher Nolan’s way of writing… I wanted the movie to have a lot going on with multiple perspectives, so you don’t really get the whole picture immediately. It’s like playing a guessing game with the audience, so certainly Christopher Nolan. So I wanted to try something like that as far as the narrative. With the style, I looked to Guy Ritchie. Yeah, I would say since I saw his first movie, with such a unique style, I was beside myself. Something along those lines is just what came naturally.
Absolutely. You’re style feels perfectly at home with those filmmakers, so I’m definitely a fan. Coming from an advertising background, it makes sense that you’d have such strong visuals. The movie has a very crazy, LOCK STOCK type feel that doesn’t really slow down. In terms of filming, how long did it take to shoot? It feels like you have hundreds of locations in the thing.
It was… I believe it was seven weeks total, with one day of rest, like one day off a week. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we did have a lot of passion. I did it with friends I has made in the advertising industry, like my entire crew basically. They’d worked with me on commercials for a long time and they just came aboard. So we were able to have a good crew for a better price, but yeah the locations were all São Paulo or around the area. It’s a very beautiful place to shoot. More people should shoot in São Paulo as it’s a very big city with all sorts of great spots. Sure, there’s a lot of traffic which makes it a little tricky, but…
I assume then that it was very much “run and gun” with very few permits involved. Was that the case?
Yeah, it was. It was very… You need to shoot very fast and some times you’ll be leaving behind some stuff, but you know I couldn’t have everything the way I wanted it, because we just didn’t have the time or resources, so it absolutely was run and gun. Not a lot of lights… We shot with the first generation Red, which wasn’t as much light sensitive, so we lacked a little bit of light during filming.
It’s definitely got a lively feel and I assume the whole “run and gun” / “work with what you’ve got” definitely helped with that sense of urgency and pacing. If you had one, could you give me an idea of your favorite day of shooting? Possibly a moment where you were like “Oh yeah, this is exactly what I wanted when I wrote this and this is what we are getting!”
(Laughs) Well there were many days that were very nice and many days that were awful, but one day that stands out for me is “Edgar,” the main guy is talking to “Júlia” and they are just having a nice dinner and just talking. It just felt so natural and still romantic at the same time. The two actors… I mean the chemistry between them. That was a day I remember being very happy. The action sequences generally take days where you shoot like crazy and you don’t get a chance to enjoy the acting going on so much. It was great to sit back and watch, and not get crazy.
I know exactly what scene you’re talking about, especially given how many action scenes there are in the film. Other than the characters you played, which of the characters in the movie do you think is the closest to who you are? Who do you relate to the most in 2 RABBITS? Does that even makes sense?
(Laughs) Yeah, yeah of course. I see a lot of me in “Edgar” and the bad guy, “Maicon.” They are both me in a lot of ways.
Maicon was pretty brutal… (Laughs)
It was a very personal project with a lot of characters based on friends of mine, but that’s what happens when you do like a very personal project, you put a lot of yourself in there.
That’s fair. I looks like you shot this about three or four years ago, is that right?
Yeah, it was shot in 2010.
I assume there was a lot of post involved considering all of the effects, and that had to take some time. In the time since, you’ve directed SOLACE and it looks like you’re gearing up to produce a few more movies. Were there any lessons you took from 2 RABBITS specifically that you walked away with and will never forget in terms of “Oh, well next time we should do it like this, instead of like that?” Though given your advertising background… you probably experienced that daily… Was there any “big” lesson from 2 RABBITS that helped you with your next projects?
Yeah, absolutely. It’s true that every movie that you do heavily influences what you’re going to do on the next one. Good things and bad things. You learn a lot more from bad experiences, but I found a lot of things that I did wrong on 2 RABBITS I learned that I shouldn’t do again, especially since this was my first feature and my next feature was like a big American movie with SOLACE. So I went from a very small to kind of a big movie, you know? It was a very difference experience. The production structure and all was drastically different, like I had to deal with very famous actors like Anthony Hopkins and Colin Farell, with a movie that had like almost 30 million dollars for a budget… 2 Rabbits had like 1.5, so that’s a pretty crazy jump from one to the other.
Yeah… that’s definitely quite a big jump. (Laughs) So what’s up next for you?
I’m just finishing up a new movie here. It’s about an MMA fighter, José Aldo. We’re finishing it up and it’s got everything… There’s romance and action. I hope to do another project in the US. I’ll be in LA probably in March and so hopefully I’ll be doing something else in the US, you know?
Cool. Well I’m looking forward to whatever you’ve got next. Alfonso, thank you for your time, sir. I appreciate chatting with you and I found your movie to be a lovely energetic smack to the face, a fun time. Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much.
Have a great day.
Bye.
- Mike McCutchen
"Muldoon"
Mike@aintitcool.com
